weiss



F. J. WEISS.

AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOILERS.

(Application filed July 9, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets--$heet' l.

Wnnesses- Inventqr.

g? M '6' Y Attorney.

Patented Apr. l8, l899.'

no. 623,229. Patented Apr. l8, I899. F. J. WEISS.

AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOILERS.

(Application filed July 9, 1898,)

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

Witnesses. Inventor. 7g 7- 9292/4 2022;

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. llNrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ JOSEPH \VEISS, OF BASLE, SlVITZERlLAND.

AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOILERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,229, dated April 18, 1899.

Application filed July 9, 1898- Serial No. 685,522. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANZ JOSEPH WEIss, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerland, residing in Basle, in the canton of Basle, in the Republic of Switzerland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Feeding Devices for Boilers, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to mechanism for supplying feed water to boilers which consists of a pump adapted to work with either steam or water as a motor fluid and in which the motor-cylinder is connected with the boiler by a conduit opening therein at thew ater-level which it is desired to maintain, the deliverypipe of the pump being connected with the boiler and of course with a source of supply.

The object of my invention is to improve feed-water devices of this character by, in the first place,providin g means whereby the pump may be kept in operation even after the normal water -level is attained; in the second place, by providing means whereby the flow of water or of steam to the'motor-cylinder of the pump shall be for a short period unaffected by the fall of the water-level below or its rise above the normal determined line; and, in the third place, my object is to provide means whereby scum or dirt floating on the surface of the water in the boiler will be excluded from the conduit leading to the motor-cylinder of the pump.

The nature of myimprovements willbe best understood as described in connection with the drawings, in which they are illustrated, and in which- Figure 1 is a sectional end elevation of a boiler and feed-water tank provided with my improved feeding apparatus. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a modification which is advantageous under certain conditions. Fig. 3 indicates still another modification, and Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the conjoint use of the two modifications separately illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

0 indicates a boiler the determined normal water-line of which is indicated at A B.

D indicates the motor-cylinder, and E the pump-cylindeiyof the feed-waterpump,which, as stated above, should be of a type capable of starting in any position and preferably also of a character which will work with water as well as steam as a motive fluid. Many such pumps are in common use, and fora typical example I would mention the Well-known Worthington duplex pump as being thoroughly adapted for-my purposes.

F indicates a receptacle for feed-water; b, a conduit leading from the receptacle F to the pump-cylinder E; c, a conduit leading from the pump-cylinder to the lower portion of the boiler.

to indicates a conduit for the motive fluid of the pump, leading to the motor-cylinder D from a point in or in connection with the boiler, the said conduit being so arranged that its inlet end will be submerged by the Water of the boiler when the water-level in the boiler exceeds the determined line. As shown in Fig. 1, the inlet end of the pipe a is introduced directlyiuto the boiler and brought to the determined water-level AB. Frequently it is desirable to make the submersion of the inlet end of the supply-pipe to a certain degree temporarily independent of the water-level in the boiler, so that, for instance, water will continue to flow to the motor-cylinder of the pump for a short time after the water has fallen below its normal level and so that after the pump has resumed operation With steam there will be an appreciable interval before the in let end of the supply-pipe is again flooded. Such a method of operation is provided for by the addition of a vessel 9, (see Figs. 2

and 4,) having an open-topped end and placed in or in connection with the boiler, so that its open top will come flush with a determined water-level, the inlet end of the supply-pipe a being introduced into this vessel, as shown in the drawings.

In the modification last described it will be obvious that so long as the water-level AB in the boiler lies above the mouth of the vessel g the vessel will be kept full of water and the motor-cylinder of the pump supplied with water from it and that even after the waterline has fallen below the mouth of the vessel g the pump will still be actuated by Water until the vessel ghas been emptied or until the water in that vessel has fallen below the mouth of the pipe to. lVhile the vessel 9 is being emptied of Water in this way, the waterline of the boiler is of course falling, and if no considerable demand is made upon the boiler for steam the fall in level will not be considerable or in any wise dangerous if the vessel g is properly proportioned, being such, for instance, as is indicated between line A B and the line h in Fig. 2. It will also be obvious that after the'vessel g is emptied of water the steam will pass freely through it and into the motorcylinder, bringing the feedpump again into energetic operation, the pump continuing to work with steam while the water-level rises from h to A B.

\Vhere the water supplied to the boiler comes from a source which makes it likely to form a scum or have light impurities floating upon its surface, it is desirable to provide means which will prevent the scum from entering the pump, and this may be readily done by connecting with the boiler a receptacle k, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the said receptacle expanding above and below the normal waterline of the boiler and being connected with the steam and water spaces, as by conduits 7t" and It". The supply-pipe a is led into this receptacle 7c, andas the water in the receptacle is always drawn from below the water-level in the boiler it is naturally free from scum or light impurities, which float upon the top of the water.

As indicated in Fig. 4, the vessel g may be used in connection with the receptacle 7c and the combined advantages of both of the features of my invention thus availed of.

;It will be obvious that, provided the feedwater pump is sufficiently large to suit the maximum consumption of steam from the boiler, the determined water-level in the boiler will by my device be maintained practically constant. In case, however, the amount of steam drawn from the boiler varies suddenly and materially, the ordinary precaution of regulating the fire in accordance with the demand for steam may at times be insuflicient to prevent an undesirable increase in steampressure. In such cases it is the common practice for the fireman to feed water to his boiler beyond the necessary and normal Waterline, so as by the addition of comparatively cool feed-water in large quantity to absorb the temporary overplus of heat, and as another feature of my invention I provide for this manipulation, in connection with myfeed device, by connecting the supply-pipe a with the steam-space of the boiler, as by a conduit e, and providing in the pipe (2 a stop-cock, as indicated at H, by which it can be opened or closed at will. It will be obvious that by this device steam can well be supplied to the pipe '64 even after its inlet end is submerged below the water-level and in this way the pump kept in connection with steam and the water-level in the boiler raised to any desired extent.

PreferablyI lead the exhaust from the motor-cylinder D of the pump by a conduit d into the supply-tank F, so that the water in the supply-tank may receive the heat of the exhaust-steam when the cylinder D is fed with steam and so that the hot Water from the boiler shall be returned to the supplytank when the motor-cylinder is fed with water. The obvious economy of thus utilizing the heat of the steam or water drawn from the boiler will be appreciated.

Having now described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a boiler, a feed-water pump adapted to work with steam or water as a motive fluid, a supply-pipe connected at one end to the motor-cylinder of the pump and at the other end connected with the boiler, as described, and so as to have its inlet end flooded when the water in the boiler reaches a determined level, a supplemental steam-supply pipe leading from a point above high-water level in the boiler to the motorcylinder and a stopcock in said supplemental pipe.

2. In combination with aboiler, a feed-water pump, an open-topped vessel, as g, in or connected with the boiler and arranged so that its open top shall be flush with a determined high-water level of the boiler, and a supply-pipe connected at one end to the motor-cylinder of the pump and at the other end extended into the vessel aforesaid so as to have its inlet end flooded by water entering said vessel through its open top.

3. In combination with a boiler, a feed-water pump adapted to work with steam or water as a motive fluid, a receptacle, as L, connected with the boiler above and below the normal range of the water-line therein, a supply-pipe connected at one end to the motorcylinder of the pump and at the other end connected with the receptacle aforesaid, as

specified, and so as to have its inlet end flooded when the water in the boiler reaches a determined level, and a supplemental steamsupply pipe leading from a point above'highwater level in the boiler to the motor-cylinder and a stop-cock in said supplemental pipe.

FRANZ J O SEPH WEISS.

lVitnesses: v GEORGE GIFFORD,

EDUARD XVILKI. 

